Nudes "Model" Union Label

The bare models at the Moore College of Art and Design
complained of low pay, cold rooms and air thick with paint
fumes and charcoal dust.
After the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rejected
the school’s argument that the models are independent
contractors, 13 models au naturel will be joining
District Council 47 of the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees, according to an
Associated Press report.

“We were at a loss about how to get the schools to pay
attention to us,” said Claire Hankins, who led the effort
to organize artists’ models at the college.
Hankins, who has modeled unclad for 20 years,
wants the all-women’s art school to raise its $11
hourly rate and provide its 40 to 60 models with warm,
clean, safe spaces in which to work.
The models have said that disrobing for art school classes
is hard work that requires them to hold a pose for long
periods under sometimes difficult conditions. The studios
at Moore and other art schools often lack private changing
areas, adequate heaters and outside air, Hankins said.

The NLRB agreed, although the board found that only 13
models at the school had worked enough hours to vote on
whether to join the local.
Hankins said seven of the 13 attended Wednesday’s meeting
and all voted to unionize.

However, the local wants to organize the movement to the
approximately 200 models who pose for art classes in the
Philadelphia region.
Gary Kapanowski, a District 47 organizer, said he does not
know of any other school in the country where nude models
have organized, though he hopes that will change. “The
labor movement needs to reach out to constituencies beyond
the normal groups,” he said.

However, at least area one model, Cheryl Breese, does
not support efforts to unionize her fellow art class
models. Breese, who is raising two teenagers and working on
a college degree, made just $12,000 last year, but worries
she would lose flexibility if the jobs were
unionized.
“Most of us go into this job because of the freedom it
presents,” said Breese, who does not work at Moore.